Pineapple upside-down cake

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PRESENTATION

The pineapple upside-down cake is a soft fruit cake in which pineapple, a fruit loved by young and old alike, plays the leading role! The "inverted" baking method, with the fruit underneath instead of on top of the cake, gives the desserts a scenic appearance and sophisticated taste, such as in our pineapple upside-down cupcakes and the banana upside-down cake. The special feature of the pineapple upside-down cake is the bittersweet taste of caramel that blends with the freshness of the pineapple, creating a contrast of delicious flavors that goes well with the delicacy of the cake. The pineapple upside-down cake is a very versatile dessert that is suitable for breakfast, a snack, but also perfect as a dessert, perhaps served while still warm with a delicious scoop of cream-flavored ice cream or whipped cream. Your guests will ask for seconds!

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for a 9.5-inch (24 cm) diameter cake pan
Pineapple 1.4 lbs - cleaned
Eggs 1.3 cups (165 g) - (about 4 medium, at room temperature)
Butter ¾ cup (170 g) - soft
Sugar 1 cup (200 g)
Flour 00 2 cups (220 g)
Baking powder ¾ tsp (3 g)
Almond flour ½ cup (50 g)
Almond milk 1 cup (140 g) - at room temperature
Fine salt 0.3 tsp (2 g)
For the caramel
Butter 2 tbsp (30 g)
Sugar 0.6 cup (150 g)
Water 0.6 cup (150 g)
Preparation

How to prepare Pineapple upside-down cake

To make the pineapple upside-down cake, first clean the pineapple (you will need 23 oz (650 g) in total): remove the base, cut off the green top 1  and remove the skin (2-3).

Now remove the center core (4-5) with a special coring  tool. Cut 12 oz (350 g)  6 of the pineapple into thin slices.

Then reduce them into quarters 7  and set  them aside, they will be used to cover the base of the cake pan. Dice the remaining 11 oz (300 g) of pineapple 8. Use a cake pan with a 9.5-inch (24 cm) diameter at the top and an 8.5-inch (22 cm) diameter at the bottom, with a 2-inch (5 cm) high edge. Pour the water and sugar 9 in and place over medium heat

until brown, then turn off the heat and add the chopped butter 10  and stir. Now lay the previously cut pineapple slices in a spiral shape 11. You will have to completely cover the bottom 12.

Set aside and prepare the cake dough: in a bowl, pour the soft, chopped butter, sugar 13  and salt 14. Whip the mixture with an electric whisk and add the whole eggs one at a time 15.

While whipping at low speed, add the flour 00 16, baking powder 17 and, once absorbed, alternate the almond flour 18

and almond milk 19. Once you have obtained a homogeneous mixture, add the diced pineapple 20. Pour the dough into the cake pan 21.

Level the surface with a spatula (22-23) and bake in a static oven preheated to 365° F (185° C) for one hour. Once ready, take the cake out of the oven, use a knife to delicately detach the cake from the pan 24

and turn it over on a rack while it is still hot 25 so that the excess caramel drips out, then remove the pan without burning yourself 26. Let your pineapple upside-down cake 27 cool and then serve!

Storage

The pineapple upside-down cake is best warm, so we recommend eating it shortly after baking. However, you can store it 1-2 days at room temperature under a glass cloche. You can freeze it if you have used only fresh ingredients.

Tips

If you do not have fresh pineapple available, you can replace it with pineapple slices in syrup, keeping the amounts and the procedure the same: drain the slices well before placing them on the bottom of the cake pan to caramelize! And in order not to waste the syrup, you can put it in the dough instead of the milk!